Affirmative Actions Necessary for Survival

There is an aspect of the program and government policies, dubbed affirmative actions, which I do not agree. They should not be implemented, I believe, to make up for past offences and persecutions. Recompensing the children and grandchildren of victims long ago, in the workplace and collegiate institutes is not a very practical tool for resisting discrimination and prejudice. Affirmative action rather could be very useful if it is solely used to address current issues that concern minorities.

There are more males in the world than females, so women usually find themselves lumped together inside the politically correct expression ‘minority’. As thus, they too are beneficiaries of policies that are meant to offset various social and economic disadvantages.

Few people in the world openly denounce such policies, but too many still see them as just another detail in making sure everyone gets along well. The economic benefits of the program are rarely discussed, and the political advantages, even less so. But a mere glance at world affairs and the need for more women in leadership roles could not be more evident.

Nothing is easy to solve or explain, but most of the world’s problems, including global warming, are purely man made. Notice my use of words – not manmade, but ‘man’ made. So much chaos and turmoil seem to be happening for the simple reason that men in the major positions are too vainglorious.

We can begin with the leader of the Free World, Donald Trump. There has never been an American leader more in love with himself, his power, money and the fact he won an election. His vision for his country is similar to a schoolyard bully; for him, greatness is in military power. He wants to reduce aid money to non-governmental organizations, and instead invest in more arsenals.

Across the Atlantic, in the cold and sparse upper reaches of Eurasia, Vladimir Putin of Russia huffs and puffs daily as he makes the country more and more authoritarian. The economy may be in recession, but the military is in overdrive. He has annexed Crimea in a gross show off of disrespect for international laws. He has also demonstrated his nostalgia for the good old days of the Russian sphere of influence if his meddling in other countries’ domestic politics is any proof.

It is very hard to mention Putin, and overlook Bashar al-Assad, his close ally in the Middle East. Despite our relatively advanced state, the world never seems to lack a butcher of Assad’s wickedness. With five hundred thousand killed, over two million injured and ten million displaced, Assad still argues he and his regime are a victim of Western demonization.

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan may be against Assad, but he is also a proud and outspoken strongman. He flexes his muscles by jailing journalists, teachers, opposition leaders and calling everyone that does not agree with him a Nazi.

Asia does not do better. One of the most colourful leaders in the world lives in the Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte rarely seems like the president of over a hundred million people. He usually has a very hard time finishing a statement without a swear word or two. The vulgarity of his off the cuff, unrefined personality is only matched by his inhumane policies toward the drug war. He has publicly condoned, and in some cases encouraged, the vigilante killings that have taken thousands of lives without any due process of law.

To the north of the Philippines lies North Korea, a hermit kingdom. Its leader – supreme, absolute and all together God-like – is Kim Jong-un, who is currently the most dangerous person in the world. His priority is to develop an inter-continental ballistic missile equipped with a nuclear bomb, at whatever cost, even if every single North Korean has to be starved to death. Owing to this 32-year-old upstart, the prospect of a thermonuclear catastrophe in the next couple of years is very high.

History is full of narcissistic leaders, but it has been a while since we had so many of them all at once. Some of these leaders are opposed to one another, but they are linked by their titanic egos, which, in the guise of patriotism, they have to keep stroking. This much incompetence and selfishness is a recipe for blundering into some type of irreversible disaster.

Contrast these buffoons with some of the world’s most influential female leaders. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, also the de facto head of the European Union, is graceful under fire, gifted and experienced. Under her chancellorship, Germany’s high unemployment rates have become a thing of the past. And seventy years after World War two, Germany is one of the most open, tolerant and liberal countries in the world.

After Brexit, Theresa May cannot say the same about her country. She did not ask for the outcome of the fateful referendum last year – she wanted to remain – but now that it has taken place, she wants to go forward without looking back. She is smart as a fox and braver than a lion – it takes unflinching poise and tenacity to stare down 27 European Union members. Scotland’s Nicolas Sturgeon may have a sobering effect on her though.

There are some high-profile female politicians whose record maybe less than average. South Korea’s Park Geun-hye (daughter of the dictator Park Chung-hee, the apple did not fall far from the tree) was recently removed from office pending criminal charges. Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff was impeached for the same reasons. But these are misdemeanours compared to the gross transgressions of male leaders.

We need more female politicians and more policies that help them get to places of leadership. By nature, women are calmer, patient and mindful – feminine qualities also found in all great male leaders. Affirmative action is not just morally or socially conscious, but a matter of human survival.

By Christian TesfayeChristian Tesfaye is a regular contributor to Fortune. He could be reached at christian.tesfaye@yahoo.com